


Sometimes Living Just Hurts

by kazjaurelia



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Hurt Tony, Irondad, Poor Tony, Poor Tony Stark, Sick Tony, Sick Tony Stark, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-04 00:49:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21188789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kazjaurelia/pseuds/kazjaurelia
Summary: Just a little drabble taylortut asked me to do forever ago. I, of course, forgot to post it on AO3. Tony doesn't take the best care of himself, which is important because of the vulnerability the arc reactor brings. Tony deals with a chest infection at a charity gala, longing for the night to be over. But, of course, nothing is ever that simple when it comes to Tony Stark. When a group of serial robbers crash the gala, Tony has to figure a way to keep everyone safe.





	Sometimes Living Just Hurts

If anyone asked Tony, it wasn’t his fault. It really wasn’t. No, you could blame it on the newest menace that S.H.I.E.L.D. had tasked the team to. They called themselves Gadianton, and they targeted charities mostly. Either quaint or worldwide, it didn’t matter to them. Everyone was a target, as long as they had money. They’d been attempting to track the group down for a month straight by now and had made very little process. It seemed like every possible lead turned to dust almost as soon as it was discovered. Ultimately, time led to an escalation in the group as they became more confident. The first time a life was taken by a Gadianton operation, it struck a giant blow. It stung worse that Peter had been patrolling in the area, gotten involved(of course), and subsequently injured.

Tony was determined not to let it happen again. He did what Stark men do best. Focus on their work and neglect their personal care. He wouldn’t stop until he had caught Gadianton.

Tony took a sip of his fifth coffee of the morning and returned to typing away at his keyboard. He knew he was making headway, and that, if he dug just a little deeper, he would find something. He was hoping to be able to put an end to it all before the dinner for his mother’s charity, but things weren’t looking the brightest. 

He scrubs a hand over his face as he pours more closely over the text, the words beginning to slightly blur together. His whole body was beginning to ache and shiver with how cold it felt down in the lab. Tony wondered for a moment if he was coming down with a cold, or worse, another chest infection, but quickly dismissed the idea and wrote it down to how much coffee he had ingested in such a short amount of time. He turned back to the screen while taking another draft of his coffee and settling in for a while.

Peter was practically jumping out of his suit. The suit which Mr. Stark had so nicely bought for him so he could attend the Maria Stark Charity Dinner. The ballroom that had been rented was enormous, and it appeared to be completely filled with people. This made it increasingly difficult to figure out where Mr. Stark was. Peter knew he should have continued to follow Happy once they were through the entrance, but he had quickly gotten distracted by some of the scientific displays of student projects that had been put up for the crowds to see what they were supporting. 

“Maybe if I can get higher I can find Mr. Stark,” Peter mumbled to himself as he made his way towards the stairs, weaving his way in between the pulsing crowd. Up in the balcony, the crowd didn’t thin at all. In fact, it seemed like there were more guests packed up onto the ledge. Peter picked his way through the crowd as fast and as politely as possible, but, of course, someone else wasn’t watching where they were going and happened to trip into the young hero. The pink champagne in her hand exploded out of the flute and cascaded down the front of her alabaster gown. 

“What are you doing!?” she shrieked as she desperately tried to brush off the champagne, only spreading it more. “Do you know how much this dress cost? You’re going to pay to have this fixed!”

She had been inching closer as she screeched, looking angrier and angrier as Peter stuttered an apology. 

“That won’t be a problem. I’ll cover the bill, just send it to Pepper,” rasps a voice behind Peter. The lady immediately simmers down and merely grumbles about her ruined dress but meanders away from the party’s host with an agreement.

“Mr. Stark, I’m so sorry she just bumped into me and I didn’t mean for her dress to get spilled on and then she just started yelling-”

“Kid relax. It’s okay,” Tony rasps out as he pulls Peter with him towards the stairs. “She’s usually high strung about everything anyways.” Tony walks over to a chair on the side of the ballroom and plops himself into it. His body has steadily become more and more achy over the course of the event, and it was yet to be halfway over. Every so often, a rough, chesty cough makes itself known, further adding to the aches in his body. He wants more than anything just to retreat back to his lab but knows that isn’t an option right now. Tony is dragged from his thoughts by Peter’s babbling. 

“Are you okay, Mr. Stark?” Peter can see how pale Mr. Stark looks. “You look like you don’t feel so good. Do I need to call Dr. Banner?” 

A sigh escapes from Tony’s mouth as he tiredly runs his hand over his face, again. Another spike of pain drives its way through his skull, running from his eyes to the base of his skull. He knows he most likely has another chest infection due to the combination of the arc reactor and self-neglect, but there are more important things to be worried about. Like making it through the rest of the charity dinner. Besides, it’s not like he hasn’t worked through worse. 

“Look, kid I-”

His retort is cut short by the sudden sound of shattering glass and screams as the glass dome above them shatters under the weight of sixteen armed men. They position themselves around the ballroom and being herding the guests into the middle of the room. The guests trip over each other in their hurry to obey their captors’ demands.

“Come on, ladies and gents, we don’t have all night!” one of the men shouts as he shoves a couple harshly onto the ground in the center of the chaos. 

Tony really isn’t in the mood for this to happen tonight. It’s bad enough that they’ve been on a wild goose chase to find the group of armed robbers, but for them to so blatantly attack his own charity event? He should have seen it coming, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less annoying. 

One of the men comes up behind Tony and Peter, aiming his gun directly at the small of Peter’s back. “Ah, Mr. Stark, what a nice event you have put together for us. Now, if you’ll follow me please.” 

As the duo is guided to the center of the hostages, F.R.I.D.A.Y. reports that the rest of the team is on the way, only about three minutes away. He just has to keep the bullets from flying until then, and most importantly keep Peter safe. 

His attention is pulled back to the present and the leader moves the gun to aim at Tony. “Now Stark, where do you keep the donations, hmm? Hopefully not too far, if you wish to remain unharmed.”

Tony lets out a short peel of laughter, sending another spike of pain through his head. “Yeah, you do know me tho-” He’s cut off by a sharp blow to the left side of his face, sending him to the ground. The world seems to be rocking around him, unable to remain still as pain ripples through his body. Air seems to be coming through a straw, and Tony can faintly hear sound returning through the ringing in his ears. All he can hear is his raspy wheezing and the sound of Peter shouting.

“Stop! Don’t hurt him!”

The world manages to right itself long enough for Tony to see Peter being held back by another one of the intruders. That’s all he sees before a foot is being driven into his abdomen, knocking what little breath he had out of his lungs. Black spots border the edges of his vision and he desperately tries to draw in at least one breath of air. His lungs seem to have given up. The black creeps closer, taking up his whole view. As he falls into the darkness, he swears he can almost hear the sound of Peter pleading before it’s overtaken by the sound of breaking glass. 

Consciousness comes back to Tony slowly. Cool air on his face, a weight against his thigh, a steady beeping, and the smell of disinfectant. It takes him a few moments, but eventually, he gathers enough energy to open his eyes. A mistake, he notes, as the blinding light sends pain shooting through his head, though thankfully not as painful as before. He must have made some noise because the weight on his thigh eases and he can hear someone talking to him, although still struggling to piece together the words.

“-ark? Mr. Stark? Do you want me to get Dr. Banner?”

“Underoos?” The light has finally dimmed to a tolerable level, allowing him to see a sleepy and concerned Peter Parker. 

“I’m gonna go get Dr. Banner,” Peter announces as he starts to get up, but is stopped by Tony softly grabbing his arm. “Mr. Stark?”

“Not yet, kid. Let me have a little peace before Bruce and Pep start worrying at me.”


End file.
